


Crosshairs

by Miasen



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Assassins & Hitmen, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22961767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miasen/pseuds/Miasen
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy job. Get in, dispose of the target and cash out. But there was one thing that Sasuke could have never prepared for, and it will change everything.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 44
Kudos: 403





	Crosshairs

**Author's Note:**

> A new chapter of Devotion, AND a brand new one-shot in a single day? This must be some sorta miracle!

With practised hands Sasuke pulled his trusted bolt-action rifle out of the duffle bag he’d brought, assembling it quickly. The roof he was on was completely deserted, but he had long since learned that it was always a good thing to work fast and not linger longer than absolutely necessary because you never knew what could happen. 

Rifle assembled and loaded he stepped closer to the ledge, looking over at the building opposite the one he was standing on top of, counting the windows to find the one he was looking for. 

A deep breath to tune out the noise of the city that rose from the streets below and he lifted the rifle to his shoulder, resting his cheek on the stock as he looked through the telescopic sight, doing another quick count to ensure he was looking at the right floor and the right apartment. 

There were two windows to choose from. The first was dark, curtains closed, but the other had light shining through it, curtains pulled back so Sasuke could see a living room inside. It was pretty unassuming. Plain walls, a haphazardly taped up poster, a beat-up couch and half a wardrobe of clothes strewn about. Everything washed in the same greys Sasuke had seen his whole life. 

The TV was on, but no one was watching. Sasuke breathed calmly and waited, figuring the occupant was in the bathroom or the kitchen. He much preferred fulfilling his contracts from a distance, so he hoped the other would come back to the living room soon, or Sasuke would have to get more hands-on.

A sudden movement, a door opening, and there he was. A head of light-coloured messy hair. Baggy clothes, looking like he intended to spend the next hours lazing on the couch. Which would be practical considering the couch was right there in the open for Sasuke to see, no place to hide. 

Sasuke waited for the man to turn, needing to see his face to match it with the one that had been stapled to the contract he had picked up yesterday. A young man, big eyes and a bigger grin. Easily recognisable from the scars on his cheeks, three lines on either. 

A few long seconds passed as the man walked, and then he turned, looking straight out the window, and yeah, there were no mistaking him, this was his target. 

Sasuke tightened his grip on his rifle, finger resting against the trigger, assessing the situation. There didn’t seem to be any trace of anyone else in the apartment. It would be an easy job. Pull the trigger, ensure it hit and then quickly leave. Hopefully, no one would know for hours, and by then Sasuke would be long gone, pockets a little heavier with his pay. 

Adjusting slightly he made sure the bullet would hit right where Sasuke needed it to he saw the man’s eyes shift in his direction as if he was looking straight at him. Sasuke knew it wasn’t possible, that in the shadows of the roof no one would be able to see him, so he didn’t care, but suddenly he realised something was wrong, and it took him a second to figure out exactly why. 

The eyes looking in his direction was a startling colour.

Sasuke’s grip faltered a little, and he instinctively pulled his finger away from the trigger so he wouldn't misfire, but kept his gaze locked through the sight at the man, realising that it wasn’t just the eyes that were different from before. The hair which had been a light grey before was a bright colour, different from his eyes. His clothes too, once various shades of grey was now an overwhelming cacophony of colours. 

Sasuke drew a rattled breath, completely shocked in a way he had never been before. 

The man who moments before had been nothing but another target but now was something else entirely turned around, and then stopped, and Sasuke knew what he was seeing, a room that had once been nothing but grey now washed in a world of colours.

Sasuke has always prided himself on how well he had been at never mixing emotions into his job, how he never questions anything. Through the last three years he’d done this exact thing probably two dozen times, and never once had he felt conflicted about it, compartmentalising everything. He finds the target, kill them and collect the payment. Then he moves on with his life. He knew most people would probably make him out as a sociopath, but it’s not that he doesn’t feel compassion towards anyone. It’s just a job and he knows that if he doesn’t do it someone else will, and he can at least make sure it’s a clean and painless death. That’s more than some of the others like him would.

This was supposed to be one of those jobs. He had an address and a picture and little else. He didn’t know why someone wanted this man dead, or even who, but that didn’t matter. He had pissed off someone he shouldn’t have pissed off, and Sasuke needed money for food and a roof over his head and that was about all he needed to know. 

But now it wasn’t just a nameless target anymore, it was his  _ soulmate _ . 

Sasuke had been on his roof for too long as it was. He should have killed the other and been well on his way down the fire escape by now. He lifted his rifle again, cheek on the stock, finger near the trigger, gaze down the telescopic sight, the back of that messy-haired head directly in the middle of the crosshairs. The man turned around a second later and Sasuke watched as he opened the windows, leaning out as he peered at the building Sasuke was standing on top of. Sasuke knew why, that the other was looking for some face looking back at him, his own soulmate, Sasuke. 

The crosshairs rested on a forehead now, a clear target, and Sasuke’s fingers tightened around the trigger, ready to fire. It would only take a split-second, and then the world would fade back to grey and Sasuke could cash in his reward and never have to think about this again. Never think about those bright coloured eyes or the shock of that hair in a colour Sasuke had no name for. Sasuke would move on in his monochrome world, knowing that never again would he see those colours, that never would he find his soulmate. It would be fine because Sasuke had never longed to meet them anyways, had no time for romance in his life, not with the lifestyle he had chosen. He had given up on his family to keep them safe, he couldn’t have had a soulmate around anyways, so better this way, a clean end. Easy. 

He let out a breath to calm himself and ensure his aim was true.

***

Naruto stared out at the building opposite his own, completely baffled. One moment he had just glanced outside, looking up to see the moon hanging low right above the building, and when he turned back to his living room everything was different. Where there had been nothing but greys before there were a plethora of colours everywhere. The couch one colour, the rug a whole other one, the poster on the wall almost startling with the different hues mushed together. 

Naruto could only gape, feeling completely stunned and amazed at the sight. He lifted a sleeve to his face, seeing the pale colour of it. “I wonder what colour this is,” he muttered to himself. Maybe this was blue, or yellow, or red? He’d read about them, knew there were names for them, made by those who had found their soulmate and could see the colours of the world, and Naruto had always longed to be one of them, and now he actually could, and it was a little overwhelming. 

Then it hit him. “Soulmate!” 

He spun around and stumbled his way to the window, throwing it open and peering outside. 

You could only see colours if you had looked into the eyes of your soulmate, that was a known fact, but Naruto was a little confused, because he hadn’t looked at anyone, had he? 

He peered back up at the moon, narrowing his eyes a little. The whole man in the moon thing better be a myth, because Naruto would be sorely disappointed if his soulmate lived on a rock circling the earth. 

Shaking his head he instead looked at the windows. He must’ve caught someone’s eyes for a moment, just long enough to trigger the splash of colours. Maybe they were still there, looking for him? Naruto could imagine someone standing there, scanning the windows until they found his. A shy smile or a wave directed at him. There was nothing. Either the windows were dark, or there were light, but no faces peering at him. 

Naruto bit down on his bottom lip as disappointment settled in his gut. Had they seen him and not wanted anything to do with him? He knew he wore tired sweats, but he was having a movie night by himself, no one could surely expect him to look his best then?

Should he go over there and start knocking on doors? How would he know when he found them? Would he just know, would there be some feeling to show him that yes, this was his soulmate, the one person he would fit better with than anyone else in the world, the special someone just for him? 

He never had time to make a decision, because moments later there were a series of hard raps on his door. Naruto spun around, eyes going wide as he rushed towards it, pressing his face to the peephole. He couldn’t see anything but the back of a head, short dark hair, and Naruto knew he shouldn’t open his door for strangers, but at that moment he wasn’t thinking clearly, just unlocked the door and yanked it open. 

A man was standing there, the same height as him, a little slimmer, dressed completely in black with a duffel bag thrown over one shoulder. He turned around as the door opened, and as their eyes met Naruto just knew. 

This was him, his soulmate. 

It was strange because he looked almost as most people had looked all of Naruto’s life, there was barely any colour to discern. His hair was black, and his skin so pale it was almost the soft grey Naruto was used to seeing on people, but there was still something. The vaguest hint of colour in his skin tone, and his eyes too, not completely black, but a dark something, rich. 

Naruto had often dreamed of meeting his soulmate. Walking down the street, eyes meeting and a sudden swirl of colours that would mean they belonged together. Smiling at each other, rushing towards each other. This was anything but that. The other man wasn’t smiling. His lips were set in a tight line and there was no warmth in his eyes as he pushed inside without asking, throwing the door shut after him.

“You need to pack a bag with essential stuff right now.”

Naruto had wondered what his soulmate’s first words would be, how his voice would sound. He had not imagined the barked order, and it took him a second to process just what the other had said. 

“Uhm, what?”

“We need to leave, now.”

Naruto blinked at him. “I… have school tomorrow, I don’t think I can go anywhere?”

The other looked tense, and more than a little annoyed. “I don’t know who you pissed off, but there is a contract for your life circling in some dark places, and if we don’t leave immediately someone is going to fulfil that contract.”

“Shit.” 

Naruto had a good idea of why someone wanted him dead, but the thought was still chilling. He’d been a central witness in a big court case last year, and his testimony had helped blow apart a rather big drug ring. Which was why he was living under a secret identity right now, across the country from where he grew up. The police had told him that he would be safe, that he was just one of many that had helped take down the ring so they probably wouldn’t target him, that it was all precaution, but look how well that went. 

He didn’t hesitate, just dove into his bedroom for a gym bag and quickly stuffed what he thought he might need into it. Some clothes, the cash he had lying around, his passport. The stuffed fox he’d had since he was a kid, the one thing he had from his old life. 

The other, his soulmate, was waiting, eyes scanning the windows and the front door, his hand resting inside the jacket he was wearing, and Naruto was sure there would be some kind of weapon there. 

“How do you know all of this?” Naruto asked, throwing a handful of socks into the bag. The other man--his soulmate--peered over at him, lips tight, but didn’t answer, just looked away again. 

Naruto stopped for a moment to truly look at the other. Black clothes from head to toe. Combat boots. A duffel bag that had seemed suspiciously heavy when he placed it on the floor. The concealed weapon he clearly had. The absolute lack of any police credentials. 

“You took the contract, didn’t you? That’s why you are here, that’s why you know about it.”

The other sighed. Naruto didn’t even know the name of his soulmate, this was so far from any dreams he’d ever had about meeting him. 

“The contract is the reason I was lying on the roof on the building across from yours with my rifle yes. I was looking through the sight when this all happened.” He gestured between them, the  _ this  _ he referred to Naruto being his soulmate. 

“Would you have gone through with it if I wasn’t your soulmate?”

There was no hesitation. “Yes.”

Naruto cursed and turned back to his packing. It wasn’t like he owned much of importance, so he headed into the bathroom to grab a toothbrush and some deodorant. How could he trust someone that only minutes before was ready to kill him? Just because they were soulmates and supposedly the universe meant they belonged together? 

With how easy it had been for the other to answer yes Naruto was sure he wasn’t the first target the other had gone after. His soulmate was a killer, could Naruto be with someone like that? He’d always pictured someone nice. Someone that liked puppies and cuddles, not an… assassin? Was that what he was? 

He suddenly felt completely overwhelmed, and with his toothbrush in hand he collapsed to the floor, right on his ass. He winced a little as his tailbone collided with the tile but made no move to get up. 

It only took a few moments before the other was there with him, sinking to his haunches in front of him. Then there were fingers on Naruto’s chin and the other lifted his head until their eyes met again. Naruto shuddered, the other’s gaze was so intense, but somehow it calmed him a little too, and his breath, which had been on the verge of going into full hyperventilation, slowed down again as the panic washed away.

“Things are different now. I don’t know who wants you dead, but when they realise you are still alive they are going to send someone else after you, so you are not safe here. I need you to get away so I can keep you safe.”

Naruto took a deep breath, knowing that the other was right, that if one killer had been sent after him then someone knew where he lived and was willing to spend money to get rid of him. 

“Okay,” he said and grabbed the other’s arm when he extended it to help him get to his feet. “I’m Naruto by the way. This wasn’t how I intended to meet my soulmate.”

“I’m Sasuke, and believe me, I didn’t even intend to ever meet a soulmate.” 

There was a hint of a smile on the other’s—on Sasuke’s—face and Naruto mirrored it. The whole situation was absurd. One moment he was a regular college student living under a secret identity, and the next he was on the run with his soulmate, an actual assassin. 

A couple of minutes later they were exiting the apartment building, bags slung over their shoulders. The moon was a scythe over their heads, and the streets were as quiet as they ever got. Naruto’s hand searched out Sasuke’s, getting his attention as they walked down the block, heading to where Sasuke’s car was supposedly parked. Sasuke didn’t say anything, just intertwined their fingers together, holding tight. Naruto had no idea what waited for him in the future, but somehow Sasuke’s hand in his made him feel like everything was going to work out.

“I know who they are,” Naruto said.

“Who?”

“The ones that want me dead.”

“Good, then we’ll get to them first.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sasuke and Naruto spend the next weeks travelling the country, taking out every threat to Naruto’s life, then they find a new city and new names and live happily ever after. <3


End file.
